Chapter 32

**Aziel**


Shit! That hurt like a bitch.

I blink up at the ceiling for a moment and try to pull myself together. That witch didn't have to hit me so hard. It takes me a little too long to realize how quiet it is. Once my brain catches up I am up on my feet and searching for the strange girl that awoke something so foreign inside of me.

Nothing.

I'm alone and she's gone.

Those bastards took her right under my nose. This won't do. Not at all. An idea comes to mind but I cringe at what it means. They are not going to be happy to see me after what I've done, but I'll need their help.

Shit, this is bad.

Focusing my thoughts on the place where I took Nova I summon my power and snap my fingers. Warm damp air hits me and then something a lot harder. I fall on my ass with a new headache and a giant standing over me.

"Nice shot mate." I laugh and rub my jaw as if that will alleviate the throbbing pain.

The man has a nice right hook.

"Who the fuck are you?" Another shadow steps into the light and I see this man carrying a child.

Wait, is that Nova's child?

"He is the man who took our mate." A familiar voice makes me mentally curse my bad luck.

"Charles mate, how long has it been?" I push off the ground and try to brush away the dirt on me.

"Not long enough Aziel. What have you done?" He asks already assuming I made a mess of things.

He isn't wrong but the benefit of the doubt would be nice for once. How did I not recognize his energy? Probably because the wanker likes the element of surprise and hides it so well. I never did learn to do that. I went the other route and disappeared before I could leave a trail behind.

"You two know each other?" The man with the child asks.

"Unfortunately yes. He was once a pupil of mine." Charles says with the same emotionless expression he always had. "He decided shortcut magic was better than extensive study into the art and declined any more teaching from me. He was later sent away when he created a rift that allowed magic to move freely into a neighboring town. Many people grew ill and had to be treated by the council and paid to keep quiet."

"In my defense-"

"No excuse can make what you did any less dangerous. I see you have not changed. Now tell us what has happened?"

Okay, jumping right into things I see.

"I took your mate. That much is true. I was paid a great deal of money to hand her over."

"By whom?"

"Your father. But when he arrived it seemed like he was simply a proxy for a more powerful Mage."

Charles's cold eyes make me want to lower my eyes to the ground as I used to when I was his student. The man can be intimidating.

"Who's pulling the strings?" The child holding one asks.

"It's someone who hates both Charles and me with a passion." I look at my old teacher and see the realization in his eyes.

His face may be hard to read but his eyes give a lot away.

"Amanda," Charles says and I nod.

"That's right and she was ruthless. Sent me right to the floor." I rub the side of the neck where she'd touched. "She's a lot stronger than I remember."

"She had a reason to build her power, but how could she work with my father? They had a rocky relationship as well."

I shrug. "Heck if I know. All I know is that he looked more like her guard dog than a member of the Mage council."

"This is worse than I previously thought. She must be trying to get revenge but why now? Why Nova?" Charles seems as puzzled as I am right now.

"I never ask for details when I do a job but I tried before they took Nova. They weren't in a sharing mood."

"What changed your mind?" He asks.

Oh, dear.

The big guy who punched me looks as if he's grown in size and there is literal smoke coming from his nose. What is he?

He moves closer and grabs me by my shirt. "You have mated with her?"

"Hardly. I am not the mating type." I scoff and wave him off but now that I think about it...

"Join the club friend. None of us thought we would be mated to a Vamp." This comes from a man standing behind the others that I hadn't noticed before. "Plus my kind never mate. So imagine our surprise when we all found our mate and became one big family."

"Interesting."

He snorts. "That's what Charles says...often. The whole thing is a knot of unknowns and confusion. Now once again our mate is missing and we are chasing our tails around. Damn that woman making us worry like this again. And thanks for aiding in our misery."

"What do mean again?" The big guy lets me go and steps back from me.

I guess he got his anger out.

"She traveled to the past," Charles says and my eyes go wide.

"How in the world did she do that?" No one has mastered that well enough to try or succeed.

"She did it without knowing what she was doing." He says. "She did not stay away long because she was killed once again in that time."

"Killed? What the fuck?"

"There's a lot you don't know, but our mate was experimented on by shifters and killed. They buried her in the middle of some desert but she survived and dug her way out of a grave. We all sensed her and came running. We decided to stick it out together but she's a slippery thing and shit keeps happening that we don't understand." The blonde guy explains.

"Most of that is hard to follow but I guess I'm in this mess now too."

"How man damn mates will we have to pick up? Two Mages? What the fuck man?" The guy with the kid storms off toward what looks like a...hut?

"Come inside. We need to go through everything you remember." Charles turns and follows the first guy toward the hut and I watch him go.

I glance over at the big guy and decide to ask him a little about himself. "So what are you?"

"Dragon shifter." That is all he says before he follows the others leaving me in shock.

A dragon shifter? What on earth have I been dragged into?


**Nova**

Hours pass after Charles's dad leaves me. At least it feels like it has. It was enough time for me to panic, cry and get angry in that order. The rest of the time is spent with me sitting in the corner and focusing on the nice moments I've shared with my mates in the short time we've been together.

"I've been asked to escort you upstairs." A voice says just outside my cell.

I can only see a shadow of them but he's big.

"Who asked you?" I know it's dumb to ask but I give it a go anyway.

"Mistress Amanda." He says and I hear the clank of metal against metal.

Mistress?

"Who is that?"

"I believe you met her. She is the one who had you brought here." He says as he steps into my cell and moves toward me.

Using the wall as an anchor I pull myself up and keep my eyes locked on him.

He seems willing to answer my questions, so I try a little harder. "What does she want with me?"

"I don't know but you must be important for her to fetch you herself."

He stops right in front of me and thrusts his hand forward making me flinch. I feel him grab my chains in one hand before I see him kneel and unlock them from where it was locked to the floor.

"Come." He turns and pulls hard on the chains making me propel forward.

I try to stop myself so that I don't run into him but he's a lot stronger than me. I run right into his back and have to touch his back to push myself back to my feet. He freezes and I see his shoulders tense.

Okay...what's going on?

He turns to face me and tilts his head to look me over. That's an odd but common gesture it seems.

"What are you?" He asks.

"Wish I knew big guy. It would make things a lot easier for everyone. I was a vampire, but now I'm not sure."

He makes a grunting sound and continues walking and pulling me along. The corridor is barely lit but it's enough that I can see cells on both sides of us. I try to see what's inside them but either they are empty or whatever is inside is too scared to show itself. That is until we pass the last cell. A woman...at least I think it is...steps forward and I have to stop myself from screaming.

A true monster.